Winner, the Poo!

I think it works for actor Kareena Kapoor Khan to not come across as way too interesting during interviewsmdashscratching merely the surface without engaging too hard during a conversation One it keeps the mystique alive for a staractor whorsquos been under the Bollywood spotlight for 23 years straightAlso forget an overpowering intellect for a secondmdashthere is rarely a correlation between an incredibly interesting conversationalist and an equally fine actor on screen In fact the reverse might often be truerTake Kareena when shersquos out with roles far too different from her public imagemdashseamlessly slipping into lives of distant others She inevitably surprisesShe says ldquoI have always tried to balance out the stardompersona with characterdriven films all through I was 22 when I did Chameli 2003 that shines a light on a sexworkerrsquos life over a night Back then there werenrsquot mainstream actors attempting such a role Likewise Dev 2004 Yuva 2004 Omkara 2006helliprdquoA still from Jab We Met 2007At one point Kareena 43 reiterates ldquoOf course the bigticket films will be there But I donrsquot wanna do stardom anymore Would rather dig deep into challenging partsrdquoThis is in context of Jaane Jaan 2023 that she debuted on OTT with starring alongside Jaideep Ahlawat Vijay Varmamdashequally stars in their own right although from another sky namely streamingThis choice for Kareena was personal ldquoI bingewatch crime thrillers at homemdashIrsquove watched all of Harlan Cobenrsquos books that have been made into shows on Netflix So I always thought that if I come on a streaming platformmdashit should be in a genre that I would like to see myselfrdquoAs she also points out shersquos seen Mare of Easttown six times alreadymdashand that kinda explains her next release The Buckingham Murders that premiegravered at the British Film Institute festivalOver three weeks since Jaane Jaan dropped on Netflixmdashbased on the crime thriller The Devotion of Suspect Xmdashitrsquos been on the world top 10 chart for nonEnglish films on the global platform Kareena paints a picture of sheer vulnerability in the moviemdashsingleparenting a teenaged girl while they grapple with an accidental murderItrsquos a whole new world for her she admits And the process remains the same Which is Mainly to learn your lines yes ldquoBecause thatrsquos how you can manoeuvre a moment on a set Irsquom a prepared actor But I like to leave room thereafter for the director costars and the collective energy that makes a scene and film work Irsquom not set in my headrdquoShe essentially rubs off the energy in the room she says And that of course changes from room to room doesnrsquot it With Jaideep as costar and the role of Maya for instance Kareena says ldquoYou have to be more focused The costarsrsquo modus operandi is differentrdquoWhich is diametrically different from say a Salman Khan filmmdashwhether Bodyguard 2011 or Bajrangi Bhaijaan 2015 ldquoWith Salman you have an actor playing on his confidence and his superduper stardom He is confident to another levelldquoAnd while it may seem so on the set itrsquos not like he is unaware or that hersquos not listening or is kinda sleepinghellip Hersquos listening to everything and is sharp as a knife Whereas Jaideep is sincere constantly thinking about his characterrdquoOver two decades in Bollywood thatrsquos been dominated by the Khan trio it might be fair to suggest that the female costar whorsquos been by their side all along might well be Kareena Sometimes even picking parts more for the size of the film than her role Shersquos obviously in the best position to define that popculture phenomenon more closelyI ask her to explain the three Khans ideally through anecdotes for how they roll separately With Shah Rukh Khan she says ldquoHersquos all those things you hear about him and moremdashtruly the Shah or Emperor or Conqueror as they sayldquoFor him the film is about everybody whorsquos on the setmdashfrom the costar to the light boy on the tarp You sense none of his stardom once hersquos in front of you and how he multitasks while making everyone feel special Hersquos made of a special clothrdquoKareena was 21 when she starred opposite SRK in Aoka 2001 ldquoThat was a truly brave film for his maiden home production He took it all the way to the Venice Film Festival Itrsquos incredible the vision for 20 years ahead thatrsquos hersquos hadldquoBack then he knew that cinema was going to change and he invested hugely in a VFX studiordquo The superhero film RaOne 2011 with SRK and Kareena was a result of that As we speak with Jawan 2023 SRK has made an astounding comeback for himself and Bollywood itselfItrsquos also not far away from the unexpected debacle of Aamir Khanrsquos Laal Singh Chaddha 2022 which was Kareenarsquos last release in theatresmdasha hard labour of love ldquoWith several years of production gone into itrdquoKareena had her second child shortly after the film came out And she barely had the time or mental space to mull over its commercial failure ldquoRecently Aamir and I were at the inauguration of NMACC Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre Thatrsquos when we first met after LaalldquoWell I saw his face and I could see how he was looking at me apologetic and sad at the same time lsquoWhat happenedrsquo Together wersquove delivered big films 3 Idiots 2009 Talaash 2012ldquoBut you know what It doesnrsquot matter I wrote a long letter on WhatsApp to both Aamir and the director Advait Chandan telling them that our relationships and talent donrsquot depend on the outcome of a filmrdquoI wonder if shersquos personally analysed what went strikingly south with a movie so sincere and sweet that the audiences simply stayed awayldquoI think it was the postCOVID times People were looking for some more fun in their entertainment And Laal Singh Chaddha is dark Even while we were making it Aamir discussed with me if we were going too dark with my character Rupa I said no let it bemdashthatrsquos what it isrdquoAs a Khan costar of course Kareena has the same things to say about Aamir thatrsquos earned him the title Mr Perfectionist ldquoHersquos too focused on himself obsessed Sometimes Irsquod tell him lsquoBahut ho gaya yarrsquoYou canrsquot do anything else while working on the filmmdashall the conversations and people are centred on one thing But thatrsquos Aamir for you And wersquove loved him for thatrdquoItrsquos not that I say this because Kareena is before us The fact is my favourite Khan for a staractor is in fact her husband Saif Hersquos defined urbane cool in unmatched ways over a career as long as his KhancontemporariesAlso taking creative risks with subjects that were so OTT before there were streamersmdashtake the English film Being Cyrus 2005 for instance She obviously agrees ldquoHersquos the finest artiste doing his own thing a Laal Kaptaan 2019helliprdquoIt must be mildly upsetting though that their own pairing wasnrsquot to the mainstream delightmdashwhether that be Kurbaan 2009 ldquoHey Tashan 2008 was a cool flick Itrsquos got the songs and characters and a cult value So was Agent Vinod 2012 with a cool yet desi intelligent kinda James Bondrdquo Fair enoughWhile Kareena would love to pair opposite Saif he tells her something rather keenly observant ldquoSaif says that he wants to be the best in a film But he loves me so much that he would want me to be the bestrdquo This is a conflict of interest alrightStills from Jaane JaanKareenarsquos own filmic story actually begins with her sister Karisma who got into the movies first Also the first female from the Kapoor family to show up on screen Shersquos a fourth generation actor from whatrsquos widely considered the first family in Bollywoodmdashher great grandfather Prithviraj Kapoor onwardsStill the fact is itrsquos actually her mother Babita who raised her almost singlehandedlymdashthe reason shersquos in the moviesKareena says ldquoIrsquove got my confidence and an independent streak from watching my mom Shersquos the lioness who raised the cubs that is my sister and I The fire in me comes from her and she has the same fire for her children even now when we discuss workldquoThree women under one roof can do anything Thatrsquos how she took on the world and pushed Karismarsquos career She personally took her down South to meet Rama NaidurdquoAh thatrsquos how Prem Qaidi 1991 happened Remember Harish Also Anari 1993 With Telugu superstar Venkatesh whorsquos also found a new audience you wouldrsquove noticed with the recent Netflix series Rana NaiduBabita was the lsquoBollywood momrsquo as was the prevalent practice in the rsquo90s ldquoShe would always be with my sister By the time I made my debut times had changed She wouldnrsquot come on the set with me She adapted with the new generation Also cinema changed from the rsquo90srdquoKinda crappy decade the rsquo90s were for mainstream female actors no I prod Kareena She says ldquoWell everybody still dances to Lolorsquos songs at partiesrdquoEither way itrsquos worth noting that up until the end of that decade while producers and stars in Bollywood were only too happy to introduce their male children into films they resolutely chose to keep their female progeny at a safe distanceClearly something was amiss That they didnrsquot think the film industry was a great place to work for women Kareena is decidedly noncommittal ldquoI think these were personal decisions With the Kapoor family it could well be that lighteyed actresses donrsquot make itldquoIn the rsquo60s and rsquo70s it was simply a choice they made My mominlaw Sharmila Tagore for instance continued to work after marriage and even after Saif was born She was a game changer of sortsrdquoKabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham 2001Even with Karisma Kareena recalls her father Randhir ldquoan openminded cosmopolitanrdquo was clear ldquoLolo would have to find her own way and that he canrsquot help her visagravevis a debutlaunch vehiclerdquoLolo being Karismarsquos popular nickname Itrsquos derived from Italian actormodel Gina Lollobrigida Kareena confirms ldquoNow I donrsquot know where Bebo Kareenarsquos own nickname comes fromrdquoShersquos however named after Leo Tolstoyrsquos Anna Karenina the novel Babita was reading when she was pregnant with Kareena Okay another legend confirmed then Has she read the book shersquos named afterldquoHave you seen the size of the book Mere baal safed ho jayenge Irsquoll grey before I finish it Itrsquos lying at home Guess whorsquos obviously read itrdquo Meaning her husband Saif whorsquos more of a readerldquoWell I may give off the vibe that Irsquom not a reader which is not true I do read but more in the crime fiction space Scady Scandivanian stuff like Joe Nesbo Saif has a different taste having been an art history studentrdquoSpeaking of names her new title Jaane Jaan is actually named after a film starring her father Randhirmdashwho I tell her and not because shersquos around that hersquos one of my favourite Kapoors definitely underrated Her own favourite Randhir films are the same as minemdashon top the crazy comedy BiwioBiwi 1981 then Chacha Bhatija 1977 which is before Kareena was bornAnd that would be true for Randhirrsquos own stardom that was quite something in the rsquo70s and but it faded by the rsquo80s ldquoI was too young when my dad had stopped working as such Thatrsquos why my mom had to step in to bring us up and figure out the odds and ends until Lolo started working He did direct twothree films Heena was one of them But hersquos had a sporadic kinda careerldquoHersquos actually loved living life a lot moremdashhersquos a funny and warm man with a large social circle meeting close friends There are a hundred of them And they would have not one thing wrong to say about him He gave more time to that side of his life Itrsquos something Irsquove learnt to do with my circle as well Hersquos given us a lot of loverdquoThe other thing thatrsquos seeped into her personality is a middleclass upbringing therefore ldquoMy mother came from a humble background Her father was a character actor Hari Shivdasani My grandmother was British They met on a tour in the 1940s Growing up it was clear that we would be provided the bare necessities I could buy expensive clothes and other stuff once I got a jobrdquoKarisma debuted at 15 Kareena at 20 ldquoMy 20s werenrsquot about partying shots nightclubs They got spent at Mehboob Studios And I loved that And itrsquos been my life sincemdashearly to bed by 930 pm up early Yoursquoll hardly find me at film parties although I can have a latenight once in a whilerdquoOnce you start checking boxes you realise Kareena actually has a newage doppelgaumlnger An actor who met and clicked with her husband later similarly on a film set having known him for years before thatWith a maternal grandmother whorsquos British while her paternal family is from the films She broke out with a Karan Johar film As did Kareena in many ways And now theyrsquore also related Thatrsquos Alia Bhatt who confesses to being Kareenarsquos biggest fan It may appear she has modelled herself on her as wellKareena smiles ldquoShersquos tried to keep that artistic balance Irsquom a huge admirer of her choices And thatrsquos what ultimately makes an actor I didnrsquot know her as a childBut of course now Aliarsquos part of the family married to Kareenarsquos cousin Ranbir Recently we had a picture together that got everyone talking about how we must work together And then Karan Johar started getting the same messages The onus is on him to cast us thenrdquoEasily the role that got Kareena popculture cred was as Poo short for Pooja as all Sidharths are Sids and Adityas Adys Itrsquos the snobbish fashionistarsquos role from Karan Joharrsquos Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham 2001 that got her all the teenage love ldquoI think the lingo and the language of the character is even more relevant today The reason it worked was because I had so much fun playing the partmdasha rare mainstream female role that stands out in a film full of male starsrdquoAs you can tell it was inspired by Alicia Silverstone from Clueless 1995 Kareena had obviously seen that teencom ldquoBut no I was totally inspired by Karan He just knew the part really wellrdquo Looping back to the AliaKareena potential casting by Karanmdashif that does happen I joke itrsquoll fire up online trolls screaming nepotism all over againKareena sighs ldquoNow what nepotism yar Irsquove been around for 23 years People have seen my fair share of debacles And Irsquove proven myself I keep coming backrdquoWhat canrsquot be denied however is the edge in any profession for that matter that one enjoys by observing it from a close distance being raised around it As with films tooShe agrees ldquoFor me that happened with being on Karismarsquos sets growing up I was lucky yes But the first time you face the camera is still the first time And there is an X factor that you canrsquot take that away from someone So what yoursquore referring to is just a one percent advantagerdquoKareena debuted with a relatively broodyartsy Refugee 2000 with Abhishek Bachchan after dropping out of Hrithik Roshanrsquos debut Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai 2000 K3G cemented her stardom of sorts Refugee was a fair starting point for her displaying her chops as a sensitivesensible leadWhat followed was a series of films that would baffle the moviegoermdashtake the forgettable Yaadein 2001 or Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon 2003 among many that you rightly canrsquot recallBoth the movies mentioned she points out were by the starfilmmakers of the timemdashSubhash Ghai Sooraj Barjatya Was she picking directors over scripts ldquoI was too young then You canrsquot say no to such big filmsrdquoAn actor of course only acts There is much else at play for her to take full responsibility for a role let alone an entire film At some point given the offers she had decided on a sabbatical refusing to sign up any ldquoI was saying no to some of the biggest moviesrdquo Shersquos quite wellknown for that too Take Queen 2013 I remember Shersquod passed on that as wellldquoOh no thatrsquos much laterrdquo Kareena says talking of the late noughties How did she plan on reviving her career then ldquoWith a ripped sixpack planning to blow up with the world walking on high speed shot on to the big screen I hadnrsquot worked for a year and halfrdquoThe film Tashan The goal Size zero As goes the old John Lennon clicheacute which like all clicheacutes being truemdashlife is what happens when yoursquore busy making other plansActor Shahid Kapoor sent over director Imtiaz Ali for a script narration Imtiaz had only debuted with Socha Na Tha 2005 She hadnrsquot seen that film Shahid had She was happy with his script Jab We Met was born Rest is history and chemistry of course But all through the making of Jab We Met Kareena says she wouldnrsquot stop talking about TashanldquoImtiaz just kept saying lsquoI donrsquot think yoursquore getting itrsquordquo In terms of the impact her character is likely to have It did Kareena as Geeta remains her most prized picture yetAlthough my personal favourite in terms of performance alone is Kareena as Aaliya in Govind Nihalanirsquos Dev based on the 2002 Gujarat riots Itrsquos the role with immeasurable depth you wouldnrsquot expect Kareena or any other commercialmainstream star to pull off so effortlessly Thatrsquos the visceral surprise element she brings to the screen thatrsquos hard to decode about her least of all in a press interviewBeyond movies her hugest production is obviously her son Taimur a media blockbuster ever since he was born And which also explains nepotism more realisticallymdashit starts with intense public interest in starchildren in generalSomething that social media and paparazzi feed on Taimurrsquos been Indiarsquos most famous child way before hersquos likely to even contemplate his professionTherersquos little Kareena could do about it ldquoIf hersquos with me he will be photographedrdquo I wonder how other celebrity couples manage their childrsquos privacy Nobody for instance knows what Rani Mukerji and Aditya Choprarsquos kid looks like There must some method to itIt can backfire too Kareena reasons ldquoI could cover his face That would be more scarringrdquo Infant Taimur even had a weekly column with his name for a pseudonym in a popular Mumbai daily I wonder if hersquos seen itldquoHe hasnrsquot But Irsquom sure he will if he googles himselfrdquo His growing up could be a curious case study on fame while his mother claims hersquos been totally unaffected by the unwanted attention ldquoHersquos a smart boy He knows that he has famous parents And thatrsquos what this is aboutrdquoNone of which Kareena had to face through schoolcollege Jamnabai Welhams Mithibai while being a celebrity child herself And shersquos been a Bollywood star since teenage All through which shersquos seen the media landscape evolve equally Back in the noughties the reporting around film stars were inevitably about catfights in fanzines and gossip ragsShe was then in her 20s a decade she regrets a little for ldquosaying and doing foolish things in order to prove oneselfrdquo These would make it to the press covering movies that was still aimed at a niche readershipmdashldquoKareena Priyanka in a catfight in Antwerprdquo Okay thatrsquos not a true story apparentlyThe smart phone and social media turned everyone into a semipaparazzi and gossip writer It gets to Kareena at times ldquoEveryone wants your time and a piece of you which wasnrsquot there before Itrsquos tough to balance this outmdashto not have a bad day or be tired being under the spotlight 36 out of the 24 hours of your dayrdquoAn old 2019 video featuring N Narayanmurthy for instance randomly went viral recently Wherein the Infosys founder talks about Kareena as his copassenger on a flight once And that he wasnrsquot pleased with her fobbing off unnecessary attention from the public around her Narayanmurthyrsquos wife Sudha Murthy is a voice of reason in that video She tries to explain Kareenarsquos POV Something Kareena does well herselfOnly that since everything becomes controversial for a day onlinemdashI can see Kareenarsquos entourage dancing behind her to cut short the interview while I wonder if shersquos opened up enoughTheyrsquore unhappy with the questions they complain to my colleague during the interview Which is strange and itrsquos never happened during our conversation series Sit with Hitlist over five yearsThe same thing occurred during Kareenarsquos The Guardian profile more recently as noted in the piece She is actually eloquent enough to take her questions with absolute ease and reasonable charm Itrsquos hard to figure why her ownpersonal team would unusually attempt bad press towards the employerclient